Darkness in the Light
by shadowwriter01
Summary: A war had been fought since the beginning of creation, the war between Light and Darkness. This fight was also being continued on Earth. After Xena s death in Japan her spirit is being summoned by an old enemy. This foe has plans that go beyond her imagination and she has to realize that maybe from the beginning, she had only been a piece on the board.
1. Chapter 1: Eternal War

**Disclaimer:** I don´t own the series Xena or anything related to it.

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**Darkness in the Light**

_In the beginning, there was nothing, no stars, no space, no matter, no time,_

_only the force that had and gave the potential for creation and destruction, the entity that would many eons later be known as the One God, with __his dual natures__, the Light and the Darkness._

_It was the Light that spoke the word that brought the first spark of creation __while__ the Darkness was meant to supply the necessary element of change._

_And so the Darkness leashed out at the Light and it started __an __eternal, never ending war._

_Their conflict __gave birth to__ the cosmos-like it __was later called by humanity-__ stars, galaxies, entire dimensions and plains of reality came into existence. All that existed and all that ever would consisted in the same parts of their being and their consciousness spanned the universe._

_Countless millions of years __later__ however, something new emerged, life, and finally intelligent creations that could think and feel for themselves and who were able to recognize the forces that had brought them into existence __came into view from the muddy nothingness of the Universe. _

_The Darkness __was constantly__ watching the events and it influenced them, just like __it had been doing __since the beginning of time. It __quietly __reached out to the new beings, to the specific parts of himself that lived __inside __their very cores__ and began to draw them on his path._

_One being __in particular__ caught his interest- a member of the race of Angles who lived in the realm of light. This being was the Archangel Azasiel, __who would be later known is history as__ Mephistopheles._

_With the darkness in him awakened, Azasiel pursued many others of his kind to follow his goals. He __skillfully misled them__, telling them that he believed the Angels to be the greatest form of life in existence and that they should be the rulers of __all the other __"inferior"__ species and that they should worship the Darkness instead of his opposite __foe__. __Consequently,__ he led a rebellion and started a __bloody__ battle against his brethren and his Creator himself._

_The Darkness saw what was happening and, __behold, that proved to be the perfect __opportunity for him to spread his__ influence over the __entire __universe, over every single __element of reality__. __Many__ worlds perished under his power, star systems __burned__ in his wake. In __several__ cases, __some of the worlds__ were sterilized by the Light itself, because it deemed them corrupted beyond help._

_This however, __could be considered in a way just another resonant __victory __of the Darkness, given that __he had thus managed__ to force his opponent to compromise his own nature, and, to some degree to actually become him._

_This was also the moment when__ the created beings started to __give him various names__, just like he had known from the beginning they would do._

_Angra Manyu, the Spirit of Destruction, The Dark God, Ahriman, the Shatterer of Worlds, Dahak, __these __were only some of them._

_After a war that lasted for countless millennia,__ Azasiel, now Mephistopheles and his followers __were finally defeated by the Light and it's armies;__ their takeover attempt failed. _

_The good news was__ that they had been banished to the outskirts of his own realm of darkness, that came to be called Hell. The dark power of the dimension that was enfolding them __gradually transformed them into ruthless monsters__, giving them new demonic forms and __so that__ they were now completely his._

_The war had gone on for billions of years and it continued...  
_

_xxx_

_The Darkness__ was watching the latest events __taking place__ on a blue planet in one of the many galaxies of the physical universe._

_This particular world had already caught his interest __before some time ago._

_One particular thing that draw his attention was that besides the __plain__, regular mortals __inhabiting the realm,__ there were also different breeds of older beings, __evolved __breeds of descendants of the earliest creations who had come to__ embody__ the __various__ phenomena of the worlds, the __Gods, __as they __liked to call__ themselves._

_They had divided the land of their planet into __different territories for them to rule and use as they pleased. __The most powerful of these groups at __that__ time were the ones named the Titans. __Along with __the others, they were ruling the mortal people of their world and presented themselves to them as the sole and absolute masters of all creation, a thought that they quickly came to embrace themselves._

_Darkness __grinned__. __He was at the same time __angered and __bemused__ about the creature's insolence._

_In his opinion,__ there was __but a slight__ difference between them and the mortals they looked down to so much. Didn't they know that every living being was a representation of the universe, that __him __and his__ counterpart's__ presence lived in __each and every one__ of them?_

_He decided not to destroy them though, for__ he saw potential in this world, __a lot of__ potential, and so he reached out with the intention to bring out the darkness in this world and bring it under his control. This meant __of course__ both the mortal humans and the beings who were claiming to rule them. And so began a line of battles between himself, the Titans and the other gods._

_He__ had only one weakness, if it could even be called that. __In the form of pure__ darkness he couldn't physically exist in an universe that __had been initially built__ up out of his opponent's __power and his combined,__ but he could control all elements, influence all living beings and directly manipulate the reality they had forged. His only limitation was the power of his opponent, __the only one that could cancel__ his own out._

_He__ thus__ began to recruit heralds and disciples on this planet and started to manifest himself in different ways. Many of the "Gods" were destroyed, great areas were devastated, and in the end their world was lying in ruins and the human race that they thought was theirs to do as they pleased with, was __almost entirely__ wiped out._

_Nevertheless__, the Titans had __somehow __gained the knowledge to create a weapon against him, a crystal that allowed them to focus the power of his ancient enemy and direct it against him. This weakened him enough that they were able to remove his presence from their world and send it back beyond the brink of their universe._

_Shortly after,__ the weakened Titans were themselves overthrown by another group of Gods __who took advantage of the situation__, and who began ruling in their place and rebuilt their realm. __This group__ one were calling themselves the Olympians._

xxx

In the meantime, the Darkness kept concentrating it´s efforts on winning over this world. It had become one of his personal favorites. He had realized the full potential of the place, but so did his enemy the Light.

Both of them had created a child with a human to serve as their representative. But while his own had been removed from the physical plane some time ago, the other was still walking the world.

In his latest and most successful attempt, Darkness had however succeeded to merge body and soul with a mortal, a victory that allowed him to exist temporally in the physical realm and to directly incline the balance in his favor. The one who had become his incarnation in this world was no other then the hero Iolaus, the partner and best friend of the half-god Hercules, a perfectly accurate choice in more ways than one.

The demi-god had however turned out to be one of the most dangerous opponents he had ever faced on the blue planet.

After a long, exhausting fight, a group of fighters led by him with the help of the Light, managed to separate them and force him out of Iolaus. His physical form was completely destroyed in the process. But that didn't mean he had failed though, for countless Gods had been slain, many souls drawn to his path, chaos and destruction had been sown.

This world was ripe for the fall, and both he and the Light were aware of it.

xxx

What really managed to attract his attention was a new promising conflict though.

The Olympians, the most powerful of the pantheons of Gods who had managed to stay alive, had been destroyed, killed by another being who had caught his interest some human years before that.

This one had already played a great role in the history of events of her world for the last decades, serving both Darkness and Light, depending on the context. Maybe more the dark, given the ramification of her latest actions. A very versatile mortal, that was for sure.

Just days earlier he had watched Mephistopheles' new attempted invasion on Earth and his death by the hands of the same woman. The way in which she then seduced and manipulated the Archangel Lucifer to take her place in Hell, was a work of art, he had to admit it.

Ironically, in many ways it was a process of change and improvement through destruction, completely in the sense of the Darkness.

Mephistopheles had failed. He placed himself in his limitless arrogance, directly before Xena´s sword and lost his position and his life because of his own shortcomings. Then he was replaced with somebody who showed a bit more promise as the leader of the dark legions.

He kept following the events for awhile longer. This two- he admitted- Xena and her partner Gabrielle- the same Gabrielle that was also the mother of his daughter Hope- were always good to make an impact, even if they themselves could practically never fully realize the tremendous consequences of their actions.

Now, around one and a half year later, the human warrior Xena was dead. But her spirit was still present on Earth, following the path of her friend whose soul was connected to hers.

She did have the chance to come back to life, but decided to stay dead for the sake of the souls of 40.000 people who she had once accidentally killed and who as she thought, could only be at peace if the person who had caused their demise would die as well.

Darkness couldn't help laughing at the irony…

Now, she was trapped on Earth as a wandering spirit.

Yes, Xena´s latest actions deserved at least his attention, in more than one way.

He concentrated a small part of his nearly infinite consciousness and reached out.

xxxxxxx

_Earth, somewhere __above__ the Indian Ocean_

Xena, who was now a bodiless ghost, was looking at Gabrielle who was standing on the deck of the ship and in her own turn watching out at the sea.

For some reason, she realized, she had not moved on to any sort of afterlife yet and it wasn´t looking as if she wouldn't be able to do that anytime soon. Her spirit was still chained to Earth.

She could only guess that she would stay there as long as Gabrielle was still alive. It wasn´t an ideal situation, but it could be worse, she thought. At least she wasn´t about to be sent to Hell again. There were worse things she could imagine than being there watching Gabrielle live her life.

She was fully aware of how much anguish her decision to stay dead has cost her friend. But it was for the best, at the end of the day, she didn't really have a choice.

She could only hope that it was enough.

During her earthly life she had done terrible things and had caused a lot of sorrow, too many innocent people…..She had to pay for them all and laying down her life to make up for it was the least she could do.

Some day, she hoped, Gabrielle would understand.

But deep down, somehow she had the distinct feeling that the universe was laughing at her.

Suddenly, right out of nowhere, something in her surroundings changed.

She felt something, something drawing on her, some invisible force that was pulling on her spirit form.

Then she noticed that the landscape around her had started to change. She was not longer on the ship that brought Gabrielle back to the west, but somewhere in the middle of a seemingly endless wasteland of rocks.

"Those are noble feelings, Xena." she heard a voice that seemed to be coming from all around her at the same time.

"Too bad they're just empty words though…." the voice continued, "It's such a pity that the ideals that you proclaim with such conviction, you disregard them as soon as the need arises."

"Show yourself," Xena called out.

Before her, a shadow like figure that became more and more defined began to form.

"So you think that the universe is laughing at you… That is ironic, because it is," the voice said.

The figure now resembled a man in a black cloak. His face was visible, a face that she recognized all too well.

"Iolaus?" she asked.

"Not quite," he answered, "at least not anymore, but this was my appearance the last time I walked your world, so I found it fitting for our meeting."

"Dahak," she said, realization coming over her in waves of anger.

"Yes, that is one of my many names," he told her.

Xena lunged forward and attacked the `man´ before her, but of course her fists went through Iolaus' body as if through thin air.

"And what exactly are you hoping to achieve with that?" he asked her. "Even if you had your body, it should be quite clear to you by now that your attacks are pointless."

She realized that she was not able to do anything.

"What do you want?" she exclaimed furiously.

"I have been watching you Xena, for some time now," the Iolaus manifestation said to her. "And now, when your mortal existence had come to an end, I have decided that after all these years it would be proper to finally talk to you in person."

"So you abducted my spirit for a nice little chat with an old enemy?" she asked sarcastically.

"Enemy? Don´t fool yourself. You Xena, have never been my enemy. My enemies are people who can control their rage, not the other way around. No, I am in fact here to congratulate you for your unexpected successes and your latest achievements. The destruction of the Olympian Gods for instance had been one of the last obstacles in establishing my dominion over this world."

Xena began to fully understand in what kind of situation she was. She was helpless. If Dahak wanted, he could just abandon her here like Ares did it years ago to Mavican. But she refused to back down from the creature who was ultimately responsible for Solans death.

"Great words from someone who knew defeat years ago," she responded. "Aren´t you angry that I, a simple mortal, achieved something that you couldn´t?"

"Xena, Xena, you are right that Hercules and his allies stopped my approach in the conquest of your world temporally 28 years ago and that my physical form was destroyed in the process. But you see, only because I was stopped at the last moment at the brink of complete world domination doesn't mean that I was, as you call it, **defeated**. My plans had merely been set back.

In fact, I didn't lose anything except for the advantage I had back then." he said, all that in a perfect imitation of Iolaus gesticulation and mimic, so that if Xena hadn't known better, she would have thought she was actually talking to her old friend.

"As for your comment about the Olympians, you are right, I didn´t manage to destroy them. I guess that was partly because I was too busy completely obliterating the Sumerian and Assyrian Gods, the Celtic Druids and to bring the North Gods at the brink of their end. But even so, I guess I could have still killed the Olympians if they hadn´t decided to **run away**."

"Okay, you've made your point. You wiped out entire pantheons while I've only decimated one," Xena replied. "I can not imagine that you have brought me here just to gloat.

You know something? It won´t help you. Even if you killed more gods than anybody else, it was another god who took over and not you," she claimed.

Then something unexpected happened… the being before her started to laugh. The voice once again seemed to come from all directions and was echoing from all around her.

"I see you still fail to understand," he said, "since that night in Britannia you have not managed to do anything that didn´t play directly into my hands."

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**Notes-Mythological background:**

In the persian, zoroastrian (named after the prophet Zoroaster/Zarathustra) mythology, Ahriman also called Angra Manyu (destructive spirit) was the counterpart of Ahura Mazda, the God of creation and light. Their exact interpretation varies a bit in the different variations of the religion. The main role they plaid however was the same.

_"Ahriman was the god of evil and darkness in Persian mythology and in Zoroastrianism, a religion that attracted a large following in Persia around 600 B. C. Often called Druj ("the Lie"), Ahriman was the force behind anger, greed, envy, and other negative and harmful emotions. He also brought __**chaos **__, death, disease, and other ills into the world."_

_"In the __**dualistic **__beliefs of early Zoroastrianism, good and evil fought for control of the world—Ahura Mazda from the heavens and Ahriman from the __**underworld. **__The two forces were evenly matched, and each in turn gained supremacy. Ahura Mazda represented fire, sunlight, and life. Ahriman was the lord of darkness and death. Zoroastrians later came to view Ahura Mazda as the supreme ruler who would one day achieve final victory over Ahriman."_

Ahriman - Myth Encyclopedia

He is often said to be the original version of Satan and the source for the idea of the one in Christianity and Islam.

Another demon from this mythology is called Ahzi Dahaka (represented as a three headed Dragon)

The god Dahak in the series Xena and Hercules is obviously based on this two deities. Given the role that he plays and his presentation, he seems to be nearly entirely a fictionalized version of Ahriman with another name.

He is described as, "The impulse to destroy", that exists in every element and every living being, "The blind force behind every evil will" and as one of the primary forces of the world, the counterpart of the God of Light. That implies that he is the driving force behind both Hell and the destructive powers in the universe itself.

xxx

The term "Shatterer of Worlds", that I have also used, is not taken from Xena and Hercules or the real mythology, but from Robert E. Howard´s Conan stories and the Hyborian Age, where I took a few inspirations from.

_"Great __**Ahriman**__ was also known as the Lord of Destruction, The Shatterer of Worlds; and was considered a god so evil and terrifying that even the priests of Set had to aid in his banishment. They seemed to fear his return so greatly that all of the temples and sanctuaries of __**Ahriman**__ were utterly destroyed, every gate through which the unspeakable god might return pulverized and then laid under dread curse."_

Conan Wiki

xxx

Both "Ahriman" and Dahak are obviously interpretations of the real world god Ahriman, with very similar back-stories.

xxcccxccxcc

The idea for Mephistopheles angelic name was taken from parts of jewish mythology. Here the leader of the fallen Angels is in different part called either Samael or Azazel and decided for the second name. (I have changed it into Azaziel.)

In Christianity the leader of the fallen angels was later identified with the name Lucifer, who was originally the one of a roman god.

"Xena" had however already established that Mephistopheles and Lucifer were different characters and that Lucifer was not the original leader of the rebelling angels.

So I have interpreted this as Lucifer not being another name for Azazel/Semael, but as him being his successor.


	2. Chapter 2: Failures I

In this chapter and the next one, Dahak will recapitulate the events of the past years. These will be factual correct. But since it is his intention to get into Xena´s head, it will of course be formulated to paint Xena in the worst possible light. In other words, not everything has to be the **whole** truth **and** he will intentionally only bring up the negative aspect of the events. It will be **his** version of what has happened.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

"Oh yes, so we are now to believe that all the times I have nearly killed your daughter, putting an end to your sick cult where actually in your favor?" Xena inquired sarcastically, "Not to mention the bitter death of your Destroyer."

"The **cult** as you call it, was never meant to be much more than a small-scaled distraction and yes, it did serve me well for that matter. As for Hope, what you basically managed to do was to systematically sabotage all of Gabrielle´s attempts to turn her against me; in fact for the most part you actually succeeded in keeping her from even trying," he nonchalantly let her know , "and for that I have to give you my heartfelt thanks,"

Another Iolaus like smile made the Warrior Princess shudder. She genuinely felt as if she were turning sick while listening to the explanations of that monster.

Since the very moment Dahak had brought her there, she was doing the exact same things for the perfection of which she had spent her entire life training: watch your opponent, search for weaknesses- both physically and mentally and don´t show any yourself. She couldn´t find one.

And though it appeared that her foe had no physical substance, he clearly had power and she herself was but a helpless spirit now. What bothered her the most, was that she couldn't tell what his plans were, what he wanted from her, and if she wasn't aware of his plans, she couldn´t find a way to use them against him.

So far, he only showed interest in playing mind games with her.

"Talking about the Destroyer…" Dahak continued, "even you have to admit, if you and Gabrielle were able to kill him that easily, he would have never been able to take on the Olympians. The idea to cross my own offspring with the Olympians was interesting, but it obviously failed. I did come up with something far better though," he said, "I had you."

The imitation of Iolaus' smile had now turned into a grotesque grin painted on his face.

"I know what you are thinking Xena, in fact I can read in your mind quite easily. I am not here to hurt you, in fact I want to thank you for all the things you have done for me thus far."

"I did nothing for you," she retorted angrily.

"Quite the opposite, I must say, not only did you kill the Olympians for me, but you also brought death and destruction wherever you walked."

"That's not true", Xena called out.

"Let us start with the 100.000 men in Chin that you have mass executed, using your supernatural powers to turn them all to stone," Dahak said in seeming delight.

"That army was threatening the country! I was only looking to prevent the deaths of thousands of innocents !" she exclaimed.

"Oh yes, that was true….in the beginning," he responded. "However, after you had started butchering them, they very quickly panicked. Most of them had already stopped fighting and were only trying to get away, but you just couldn´t stop anymore, could you?….Not until you had every single one of them bleeding at your feet, right? You didn´t even give them the chance to surrender, you just killed them.

Of course you could have simply ended that battle by destroying Ming Tien, his sister and Khan. In the absence of their leaders, the army would have stood down and disbanded…They would have lacked a reason to fight… You had seen similar situations many times in the past…. And still, your wise decision was to `kill them all´, just like the first time you had been to Chin. ….History was repeating itself…"

The minute he finished his line, a portal appeared before them. It was accurately showing the frightened soldiers of Khan´s army. Many had already thrown down their weapons while some were trying to flee. She could read the fear on their faces before the powers she had been using, turned them all to stone.

Xena gazed away. It hadn´t been like that, she thought. This wasn´t how things had happened, or was it? she asked herself.

"You should be proud, you've killed more people that day than in your entire life as a warlord," Dahak told her.

"Shut up," she yelled at him.

"Of course this entire war would have never happened if you had not murdered Ming Tien," he said to her. "Think about it… He would have never become a spirit, he would have never recruited Khan and he would have definitely never raised that army together with him, they wouldn´t have attacked Chin and you wouldn´t have killed 100.000 men.

But you let him provoke you into killing him. You could have easily freed the dissenters in the dungeon and you could have given Ming Tien into their custody. They could have put him on trial. Instead you preffered to murder an unarmed and defenseless enemy and what was the outcome?"

"Great, just what I needed, moral lessons from the God of Darkness," Xena bit back sarcastically.

"And that is only the beginning," Dahak continued without paying much attention to her comment. "Let us take a look at what happened the day Eli died."

"I was trying to protect Eli," she protested.

"Oh really?" he asked. "I remember that quite differently. Now let us see what really happened."

The scene before them changed. It now showed a large contingent of Ares' soldiers. They were about to cross a rope bridge that led over a large canyon with Xena standing at the other side. They both watched as the Xena in the memory jumped on the bridge and challenged the men to a fight.

"You could have just cut the bridge down and Ares' troops would have never made it to Eli," he told her. "But you decided to deliberately leave it intact, start a fight, kill several soldiers in the process and leave the bridge destruction for later… "

They both saw how the soldiers, now forced to move one by one, met Xena only to be either cut down by her sword or thrown over the edge.

"These men had no choice you know," Dahak mentioned, "because they were under Ares' direct orders- a `**God´,** but you on the other hand, had one. You could have just cut down the bridge from the very beginning. You slaughtered eight soldiers instead…

You see Xena, I've been walking around Cosmos since before the beginning of time, my consciousness is practically omnipresent and I am nearly omniscient, I can warp reality in the blink of an eye and have direct access to the most genius minds in the universe. Still, even I can not imagine a single reason why these men had to die, besides you being a sadist of course. You killed them for sport, for your personal entertainment," he added coldly.

"Of course when you finally returned, Eli was already dead. You claim to have tried to protect him, but what you basically did was to abandon him there in the favor of a few minutes of senseless killing. To top it all, when you finally returned you also blamed Gabrielle for your incompetence…Nothing new there…

Eli never wanted or needed your help. He was eager to turn himself into a martyr and Ares was the dupe who played directly into his hands. What you and Gabrielle actually did was to get in his way. Your so called help only resulted in the death of nine people instead of one that day. Additionally, there was no need for the others to loose their lives…"

Dahak smiled at her. "One of your best friends was killed while you were off slaughtering people for fun."

Xena felt as if she had been punched into the gust and didn´t know how to answer. She had been trying to help, but Dahak made her look like a murderer.

"And you still have the nerve to claim Hope was evil," he commented casually.

"Your `daughter´ murdered my son,"

By this time, Xena was screaming. All those past events had opened up old wounds and had made fresh scars bleed…

"What, after you had tried to murder her in the first place? Don´t make me laugh. What did you expect her to do? to lay down and take your abuse like her mother always does?"

"I am not abusing Gabrielle," she shouted.

"Clearly not," Dahak stated.

The portal now showed various scenes, with her dragging Gabrielle behind a horse, nearly killing her with her Chakram back when she had been possessed by the Furies, blaming her for Eli´s death in front of an angry crowd, trying to throw her into Hell when she had been turned into a demon.

The Warrior Princess was silent. This creature had managed to make her look more evil than any of her enemies.

"Hope was dangerous," she said, "she made her first kill when she was but a few hours old."

"And who was the genius again who decided to let only one single man guard an immensely powerful half-god with great and at that time **unknown** super powers? You were practically asking for something like that to happen!

And if my memory doesn't fail me, you were the one who didn't at least bothered to wake the mother of said child, who was sleeping but a few meters away? You know, had you done so, that man could still be alive and that, completely independent if Hope had turned to me or not. You took the easy way out of course…deciding to blame it all on a child…What does that tell you?

Frankly, I don´t even know what you' re complaining about. As far as I remember this entire child-killing business was your idea. You were the one to decide that murdering a child was a completely acceptable course of action. All that Hope truly did was to change the target and turn the dagger around your way.

At some level, I know I should thank you. Whatever chances Gabrielle had to turn Hope against me, you blew them all up the minute you attacked them both, thus forcing her to abandon her daughter in a river.

Hope is my child and avatar, you should know that beings like her or even simpler creations have to undergo a special trial right before they pledge themselves to the God they are about to serve. That means that they usually take refuge in the desert or another extreme environment for awhile. You should know that. Even your daughter Eve went through a similar experience once. Consequently, the hostile wilderness where you left her for dead was actually a fitting place and Hope went through her trial prematurely. You see, your actions were actually speeding my plans up.

Despite it playing out in my advantage however, I don´t appreciate murder attempts on my off-spring," he said, now with visible anger.

His eyes that were just moments before exact replicas of Iolaus' were now black orbs.

"But in light of all the other things you did for me I am willing to forgive it this time," he informed her.

His appearance changed back to the normal Iolaus one.

"I have also watched all your other invalid attempts to kill her," Dahak stated. "You can not kill her," he said, "you could never kill her. Gabrielle had poisoned her once and you burned her body. She had reformed herself from the ashes within hours. Do you think a stab from the Destroyer could have been more efficient? The only reason she is not wandering the Earth right now is because I had no use for her there. At the moment she has pledged herself to me she became invulnerable and you made sure of that."

Xena listened to all those tedious explanations without saying a word. She was too stunned to even say something.

"Aren´t you proud then that she turned out so perfectly later?"

"You are joking right?" he asked. "From the beginning I had problems with Hope in that regard. Yes..you do remember the way she killed your son don't you? "

"Of course I remember," Xena replied grimly.

"She was meant to kill **all** the children in the centaur village. In fact Callisto was planing to destroy the entire place. Hope had told her to only target the children instead..."

The portal in the air opened once again and showed a young Hope and Callisto sitting side by side.

xxx

_"...And then we will obliterate them all." _she heard Callisto say.

_"No, better to crush their dreams, destroy their future. We'll kill what they love most, their children." _Hope's answer followed.

xxx

"...**and** then she went straight to Gabrielle and told **her** that Callisto was going after the children so that they could bring them to safety," Dahak pointed out.

The picture changed rapidly to a scene with Hope and Gabrielle during which the Bard had revealed her that she was her mother, something that she had in fact known the entire time, doing her best to explain the circumstances in which she had abandoned her in the basket, reassuring her of the immense love she felt for her.

Then Hope told her how Callisto was `threatening´ her life, also spitting out her plan regarding the rest of the children.

"It was completely unnecessary to tell her that," Dahak said. "The danger to her safety would have been reason enough for Gabrielle to panic and bring her to the place where Solan was hidden. And don´t forget, as far as she knew Hope was being threatened from two directions," he mentioned smiling.

"The idea was actually good… to let Callisto kill every single child in the village. Don´t forget, it were also some of the members of the other centaur tribes who had come for the peace agreement between them. And then we would let it slip that it had been two of your former victims, coming for revenge. All because you had been hiding your son in the village.

Not only would your son have been killed, but all the other children too. And the other centaurs would have blamed you, Kaleipus and his entire tribe for it. They would have gone to war, I had made sure of it. Tell me, wasn´t that a brilliant plan?" he asked her.

"Do you have any idea how much I crave right now to cut out your heart?" Xena hissed, daydreaming about the possibility.

"I can only imagine" he said. "And then Hope had to turn back on it and derail it all," he told her, "and that is not even the end of it.

"Do you know how many times she had spared Gabrielle? The two had actually met that day, outside Ares' the Bard had the nerve to tell her how sorry she was that the poison didn't kill her, and she still allowed her to live."

The portal now showed Gabrielle and Hope. Xena followed the exchange between the two. She had to admit it, she herself was surprised that Gabrielle survived the encounter, the way she spoke to Hope.

"And in Potidaea she had again the perfect chance to kill her and didn´t," Dahak told her. "She didn´t even kill Joxer when she had the chance, right before he gave you the Hinds Blood Dagger. I heard your own `little girl´was a bit more thorough when it came to that."

That was another low blow for her, being reminded of Joxer´s death by Eve´s hands.

"Oh Xena, where did I go wrong? She had the best possible upbringing, had murder attempts on her since before her birth and afterwards, was abandoned in the wilderness and her mother willingly staid with the woman who had tried to kill her and she is still running around **sparing** people left and right. Maybe I should have asked you for some parental advice."

"Go to hell," Xena answered.


	3. Chapter 3: Failures II

**Chapter 3**

"I don´t believe a single word you're saying," she replied. "If Hope was such a terrible disappointment for you," Xena asked him, "why would you want to keep her around?"

"I never said she was a disappointment. No, the girl has great potential and lots of uses. She might not be exactly what I intended her to be, but she is by far no disappointment," he stated.

"If you say so," the Warrior Princess added placidly.

What did Dahak want? she silently asked herself. So far, all he had done was to roll up the past, painting her in the worst possible light . But that certainly couldn't have been the reason why he had brought her there. So what was the catch?

"Well, Hope´s own actions might have derailed my idea to turn the centaurs against each other," he told her. "But of course, as always, I knew I could count on you and Gabrielle to set things right. So I got my war after all…." His smile seemed suddenly even more malicious than before. . "…the day you two set Crassus up to die."

"Crassus deserved what he got," she argued..

"Of course, he did crucify a village full of women and children... That's basically the same thing what Livia did. So I guess you're right. He did deserve to die for it. It makes sense."

The manifestation nodded it´s head in mock understanding.

Xena cringed.

"On the other hand, when **your** daughter decided that crucifying and burning down entire villages was the best option to get even more famous than she already was, you just claimed that she needed to be `saved´. You then barely moved a limb to stop her. You actually protected her during her killing."

Xena didn´t say a word, of course he had to bring **that** up.

"Everyone else who did something like this in your presence would end up dead ….and fast, too. But as soon as either you or your children are to be blamed for something, the terms of the problem are suddenly **completely** different."

"That is not what I said," she shouted.

The last comment really hurt, she realized, far more than she was willing to admit.

"Well, your actions speak a different language," he said. "And Gabrielle went along with it of course. But on the other side, maybe it shouldn't surprise me. Gabrielle´s greatest weakness was always her single-minded, immeasurable devotion to you. That is one mindset you two have in common, right? Xena, the end and the beginning of all things."

"No, it´s not like hat," she desperately protested.

"But that is not the point," Dahak claimed. "Whatever else he was, Crassus was a member of the triumvirate, remember? The three warlords who were ruling Rome, keeping each other in check, those were your words.

As you had Gabrielle send Crassus into the arena to die in Vercinix's place, you left two rivaling warlords in charge. To top it all, Ceasar took advantage of his victory over Vercinix and his so called execution in an attempted grip for power. But his rival Pompey knew that he had executed the wrong man. With Crassus dead, especially in that cowardly and blatant way, a civil-war would have been unavoidable. And it was…Nearly 30.000 people over the entire continent were slaughtered only because you and Gabrielle had to play judge, jury and executioner. And instead of a mere conflict between a few centaur tribes I got a civil-war in the entire Roman Empire! Is that ironic or what?!"

"I...I wasn´t the one who made that decision. It was Ceasar who killed him, it was him and Pompey who made the decision to go to war," she defended herself.

"But you knew Ceasar, didn't you? ," Dahak replied. "You knew how he would react. You were also perfectly aware that by leaving him and Pompey in charge, the perfect opportunity to start a war was created. Do you actually expect me to believe that you didn´t realize all this from the very beginning, you, the Destroyer of Nations?! Someone with decades of experience in that regard? You knew exactly how this would play out before you even reached Rome.

You probably wanted it in that way. We both know that your hatred for the Romans knew no boundaries. You used Crassus' death to start a war and you used Gabrielle as a tool to do it. And all you had to do was to "forget" to mention to her that Crassus' execution would most likely lead to the death of thousands of people. Quite convenient wouldn't you say?"

Later, as the battle threatened to sweep into your home-land, you `solved the problem´, by manipulating two entire armies into completely wiping each other out. All that in a war caused by your own actions. And you had once again Gabrielle helping you to do it, too."

"I...I didn´t know it would come like that," she said. "Yes, I had anticipated some fights between Ceasar and Pompey, mere squabbles meant to weaken each other. And yes, Rome would have been left in turmoil. But not something like that! "

"Xena Xena, don´t act as if you didn't enjoy the outcome you got. You hated the Romans. You wanted them to suffer and bleed and you got your wish. The only time you got really worried was when the war started to cross the border to your land.

And that wasn´t even everything. Not by a long shot. The events following Crassus' death caused a chain reaction. You destroyed the balance of power in Rome and Ceasar was winning out. He was on the brink of becoming the ultimate ruler of the empire, the Undefeatable One. Consequently, you tried to stop him by assassinating him; unfortunately, that only led to your own crucination. You however managed to influence Brutus to do it in your place. Thus, left a new set of rivals in power and you once again had a civil-war. Ironically, you and Gabrielle once again `solved the problem´. By staging a battle, that by the way got even more soldiers killed. You ended up personally assassinating the leaders of both sides.

You allowed Octavius to take command and rise to the throne, thinking that he was be the best choice to lead Rome. But he wasn´t perfect, was he? Along with him came Livia and a whole new chain of massacres. He allowed Eve to kill everyone and everything she wanted, and that happened only because he was too blinded by his feelings for her to care. It didn't take long for him to be replaced by an insane despot, of course."

"Caligula is dead," she responded.

"And how long do you think it will take for another one like him to claim the throne? Thanks to you Xena nearly the entire continent is now under the rule of a line of dictators. Of course all of that fits perfectly into my plans.

The history of the last 30 years, you see, is written in blood and nobody is as responsible for that as you and Gabrielle," he explained. "The events surrounding your daughter Eve however are probably your greatest success," he told her.

"I tried to protect Eve. The Gods wanted her dead because of the prophecy of the Twilight. I never wanted anything to happen to her," she claimed.

"Really?" he asked her. "You know as good as I do that the power of the Olympian Gods was bound to their territory. If you truly wanted Eve to be safe you would have just stayed with her in the northern Amazon land. The Olympians would not have been **able** to harm her there and the Twilight prophecy would have been crushed.

….India, Chin, the Northlands, so many places where the Olympians had no power. You `needed´ to protect her? The truth is that you could have left whenever you wanted. If you truly wanted Eve to be safe that would have been the first thing to do.

Instead, you brought her into your own home-town, a territory that was under Athena´s patronage. As a direct result, Amphipolis was devastated and hundred on both sides killed. You placed everyone, including Eve, in even greater danger. You used your own keen as human shields between her and the Gods. And of course you lied to and manipulated Ares to get out of the situation you had willingly walked into.

Does that sound as if you wanted Eve to be save? No, what you wanted was the conflict and you were not above endangering her to get it.

Livia, the destruction of the Olympians, the massacres on Eli´s followers, the destruction of most of the amazons, all that could have been avoided if you had had the sense to keep Eve away. Instead, in your limitless arrogance, you actually brought her back after she was already in the safe Amazon territory. The only reason she was still in danger afterwards was because you wanted it."

Xena turned around and looked away. But Dahak materialized once again just in front of her.

"You even went as far as kidnapping Celesta," he said. "You knew that would mean hours of pain for countless innocent victims. But you didn´t care. Celesta was neutral in your conflict with her family. She could have put both you and Eve to death whenever she wanted. But she refused to fail her duty. You and Gabrielle had less integrity of course.

Oh yes, Gabrielle…. Isn´t it fascinating what you have turned her into? A few years back she wouldn´t have willingly hurt a fly let alone a human being…And now she kidnaps an innocent person, threatens to let her die, while at the same time she's causing suffering to thousand others. Ironic isn´t it? That's what she got for overly trusting your "flawless" judgment. Too bad her trust was so misplaced.

I remember all too well what happened on that particular day. The one soldier who was meant to die in battle ended up spending nearly the entire day lying in his own blood while struggling to keep his own entrails inside his body. And then there was that villager who fell of a cliff and whose bones were shattered, his organs ripped apart ….he was not able to die for over twenty hours. And of course there was this baby who..."

"Stop it," Xena was screaming at him now.

"Do you not like to hear about your atrocities?" he asked her. "Aren´t you proud of the things you have done? And all that in the name of protecting a child that would have already been safe if you had not willingly brought her back to Greece."

"No...I...I am not a monster," she stammered. If she were still a physical being, Xena would have had tears in her eyes.

"But you are," Dahak replied. "There is no looking at the facts and deny it. You have to stop lying to yourself."

He then put his hand on her shoulder in a reassuring gesture, but she shrugged it off. "You killed countless people in situations you could have easily avoided if only you wanted. You caused death, destruction and suffering. You put the life of your own daughter at risk and turned her into a killer."

It was the last comment that made Xena blow up with rage again.

"I didn´t, I never wanted Eve to become the monster I had turned into years ago. I would have brought her up differently, If I had the chance to raise her, that is" she said.

"You had this chance when you were with the Amazons, but you carelessly threw it away," he replied coldly. "This was the Eve you have brought up. It was your decision to return to Greece. It was your own plan to kidnap Celesta that had backfired. You knew how risky the plan was. It was your decision to hand Eve over to the Romans. You could have told Ares that you were planning to fake your own death. He would have helped you, you know…he loved you that much! Still, you decided not to. All that was your own free choice. Nobody had forced you into anything. Free choice Xena, that is one of the values that I actually share with the humans."

"Ares couldn´t be trusted. He could have betrayed me to the other Gods," Xena responded.

"Like you have betrayed him in Amphipolis you mean?" Dahak asked her. "You are right, there was a risk. But like it it not, the God of War was the key…You were actually

quite lucky that he had the brilliant idea to put you and the Bard in that ice tomb, you know….. What if he had decided to burn you on the funeral pyre instead? Or what if he had left you lying on that beach and the other Gods would have decided to make sure you **were** dead? Maybe you should take a look at what had happened on that day."

The portal appeared once again before them in the air.

_xxx_

_It now showed Ares at the entrance of the cave where he had entombed them all those years ago. He was looking distraught, sad and angry at the same time. He let out an angry shout after he had left the cave. He then __teleported himself__ away __only to reappear_

_on__ Mount Olympus. Before him Athena was sitting on the throne that had once belonged to Zeus._

_"Have you taken them __away?"__ the goddess asked him._

_"Yes."_

_"__And I suppose you won't bother telling us where you took their bodies, right? "_

_"Look," Ares exclaimed, "I __stood back while you killed them,__ just as __you wanted me too!__ I did nothing. They're dead. I __gave them __the __ funeral they deserved. Now I'd strongly __advise you to leave it alone."_

_"You should have __**helped**__ us," Athena replied. "The lives of our entire family was at stake or have you forgotten that?"_

_"I know," he said._

_xxx_

"Ironically," Dahak told her, "Ares' actions saved your life back then. He was the one who kept you away from Athena and the others. While it was your plan that ultimately** caused** the twilight to happen. As always your actions only served my purposes. What followed were Livia's slaughter and the death of the Olympians, by your hand.

You even gave me a new King of Hell, one even more powerful than the one before him. In fact it was you who opened the gate to hell in the first place to get your mother out of Purgatory and unleashed it on Earth. You put your entire world at risk for the sake of one soul.

An when you killed Mephistopheles and had to take his place, you set up someone else instead. Your justification was that Lucifer was more than arrogant and too ambitious for his own good. That truly means a lot when it comes from the same woman who was defending the mass murderer Livia only a few weeks earlier," he said sarcastically.

"Of course had Lucifer met someone who, how would you call it? `had shown him the way and guided him to the light´, things might have turned out quite differently. But that wasn´t in your interest at that time right? So you instead preyd on his weaknesses, you manipulated him and turned him into a murderer."

"I was under the influence of the Force of Hell then," she claimed.

"Xena, I **am** the Force of Hell and we both know you were always in control. I only made **suggestions**. In fact you were more true to yourself than for a long time and I don´t remember you showing any regret afterwards. It would have been even better had you have taken a bit longer. The border to hell would have burst and all of Earth would have been mine, thanks to you. Well, you can´t have everything. I got Lucifer´s soul and you darkened your own even more. You should stop denying it, you are mine."

"You still haven´t told me how all that works out with Eli´s God. After all he is the one who took over after the Olympians' death and not you," she replied.

Dahak only laughed.

"Oh Xena, you still don't get it, do you? Eli´s God as you imagine him does not even exist. You see, the God of Light, the true God of Light, the one who is standing behind Michael and the other Angels and me. The truth is we are one and the same."

"What?" Xena asked in shock.

"We are two sides of the same coin. We may be enemies, but ultimately we are the light and the dark side of the same being."


	4. Chapter 4: Sacrifice alternate

Here is chapter 4. By the way I wanted to thank my beta reader xentrya for her great work.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"That is impossible," Xena whispered.

"You cannot bring one of us into power without the other rising as well " Dahak warned her. "Light and darkness are two parts of a whole. You should have known that better than anybody else by now. What you humans call the Universe was born out of a conflict, a decimating battle with my counterpart. Together we form your reality, everything that you see and cannot see around you, everything that was, that is and that will keep on existing until the end of time."

Xena took in a deep breath, allowing the new information to sink in. Of course she wouldn't have taken any of it at face value.

"But don't worry, some day I will completely crush my peace loving other self," Dahak continued, "and then the universe will be reborn in flames. This day however is still far away. I yet have great plans for this world as it is now. Entire empires will still rise and fall under my guidance."

Was Dahak right? a small voice inside the Warrior Princess' head asked. Was all that her fault? If she were honest with herself, she could literally kick herself for the blind idiocy of refusing to stay with Eve on Amazon realm when she had the chance. Were all the horrible things that happened truly the results of her own actions?

"You should not believe however that The Light and `Eli´s god´ are necessary identical," he said to her.

"Eli´s teachings speak about love and forgivingness," Xena told him, "something that you couldn't possibly understand."

"Eli´s teachings are flawed," he replied. "How did he put it, again: `**True love requires the chance of loss.´ **and `**What can a immortal understand about true love?´"**

"You have no right to use these words," Xena spat at him.

"No right?" Dahak repeated.

The Warrior Princess flinched. Right out of nowhere, she began experiencing something that felt like a cold hand around her throat, despite of the fact that Dahak´s manifestation was standing a few meters away from her. For perhaps the first time since their encounter, she realized that he also had also the power to damage her in the `physical´ sense of the word, even if none of them even had a body.

"Who do you think you are? Where were you while the Universe was taking shape? Where were you at the beginning of time as your world began to form, when the Titans fell? Where were you when Atlantis sank into the ocean? I have fought against the Light since the beginning of existence. You weren't even present when your beloved friends, Hercules and Iolaus stood against me. And you think that you can tell me what I can and cannot do? You must be joking!

_xxx_

_Dahak now showed her a scene of a dark skinned man who was obviously possessed by his power fighting against Hercules. The man levitated a dagger and threw it at a woman. But Iolaus jumped in front of her and took the deadly blow by himself._

_xxx_

The invisible hand finally released her.

"But on the other hand, your arrogance was always one of the things that constantly drove you to me," he said. "So you are forgiven, for now. You see, I am a gracious God to you."

She didn't reply to Dahak´s obvious taunts.

"Where did we stop? Oh yes, your friend Eli. If you want to preach unlimited love, you can not simply exclude one group of individuals. If **you** had understood anything of love and forgivingness you would have realized this a long time ago. While Eli was what you would call a `good´man, he was only human. His words, at the time of his death, mirrored nothing more nothing less than his need to make a stand against the Olympians. So his teachings became but the twisted vision of a madman.

Eli never comprehended the consequences of this small flaw in his message. But the one who was pulling his strings did."

"Pulling his strings?" Xena asked, "who?"

"Is this so hard to figure out? Who send the spirit who told you that you were able to kill gods? Who stood right next to Callisto as she placed Eve inside your womb? And who became later down the road- after she had served her purpose- was all too eager to get her to sacrifice herself against Caligula?"

"Michael," she realized.

"Yes Michael. Did you not find it strange that you suddenly lost your god killing powers when you attacked him? But when you tried to kill Lucifer earlier- another Archangel- nothing happened? Who had the marvelous idea to sent Callisto tell Eli to get himself killed, according to you?

This entire religion is more or less a tool to rally people against the Olympians. It is not the true message of the Light that is still about to come. You see Xena, thirty years ago two children were born: one at the winter and one at the summer solstice. Both were children of Light or Darkness. Both had a destiny to fulfill. It depended on their choices of course if they would follow it or not.

"Your friend Iolaus, was actually been present when the first child was born. That was the first time he truly caught my attention, too.

It was a chance, a chance Michael did not want to take," he said. "So he decided to send another avatar, Eli, to speed up things in his advantage. Do you think he was ever given an order to impregnate you with Eve or to give you the power to slaughter the Olympians? It was his doing all along."

Xena didn´t believe a single word.

"If that is true, than how do you explain the fact that he was able to act by himself in the first place?" she asked. "He is but an angel after all, he can't simply go against his god, right? "

"Let us say I gave him some support. During the last centuries Michael had began to fall more and more under my influence. You see, both me and The God of Light talk to our followers. Our voice can be heard anywhere in the universe. And even the wisest sometimes have a hard time telling the difference between us. We are two sides of a whole after all.

He had urged Eli to preach love for the humans and at the same time used him to spread hate against the Gods, he sent Callisto to create Eve and then let her run amok and kill countless people and didn't stop her until it served his own purposes."

Dahak gave her a few seconds to comprehend what he had said.

"No Xena, the true message of The Light is still about to come," he told her. "But even that won't make a difference. Just like me, he only has power over the ones who choose to follow Him. And what does it matter if some praise his name, but in truth worship me? As long as there are people who think that violence rules the world- people like you, that is- I can not and won´t loose."

"Fighting is not a wrong thing as long as you do it to protect others and help people," Xena responded nearly automatically.

"Too bad that you failed so miserably to live up to these principles," Dahak answered. "Did you know that Hercules and a group of his allies actually won a confrontation with me some years ago? Back then, it was about the soul of his friend Iolaus. With the help of The Light they were able to throw me back in the depths of Cosmos. But even this small victory has demanded everything from him, his strength, his faith, his devotion, his love, his trust.

Do you really think you would be able to show the same strength in your fickle beliefs? You always followed the light as long as it was easy, convenient. But as soon as things got difficult you came running to the things that I represent, hatred, violence, scorn. That is the reason why you never stood a chance in the first place. How do you want to fight what you call evil when in fact you are a part of it?"

"I tried," she said.

"You failed. Take a look at the bigger picture. As Gabrielle killed my priestess Meridian during that perfectly staged ritual, the balance of this world started to shift in my favor. Just a little bit in the beginning-but enough to make a difference. With every step it became more and more noticeable: Hope´s and Callisto´s attack on the centaur village, the death of the first Olympian, the roman civil-war, the gathering of my cult, my war against the Sumerian Gods and finally my merging with Iolaus after he sacrificed himself…I trust you can tell the pattern…

That was the point where the shift began to affect this world as a whole. Later on, Hercules and his group of companions managed to separate me from Iolaus and forced me to leave the physical realm. But my powers were still growing, slower, but the speed didn't matter. The fate of humanity depended more than ever on my all powerful will.

Finally Michael got active. He threatened to unleash a menace called the Four Horsemen, who could have destroyed the world. It was a bluff to trick Hercules into making a selfless sacrifice under special circumstances, of course. This drew the balance back in favor of The Light. But that didn´t mean things were like before. The truth was we both managed to gain additional influence. And at not a single point your action even made a difference."

"All that started because your followers tricked Gabrielle," Xena told him. "You used her innocence against her," she accused him.

"No, her willingness to kill for what she thought was right," he corrected her. "In the end it was her decision to use the dagger. I could only create the circumstances that led to the action."

"But you created the circumstances," she claimed. "Do you know what that did to her? "

"You remember the blood on Gabrielle´s hands as you found her?" Dahak responded. "That blood, had gradually turned into an entire ocean and not because of my actions, but because of yours.

Xena didn´t say anything.

"From that day on nothing you did against me had any success," he told her. "Whatever you did, whatever you could have done, I would have always been the winner."

"What do you want from me?" Xena claimed to know, anger reverberating from her voice.

"I want you to be true to yourself. I want you to admit that you are one of my followers."

"I will never admit that," she said defiantly.

"That is why you continue to suffer," Dahak replied. "Tell me, do you remember the day you stood before Hope with the Hinds' Blood Dagger? Do you want to know what would have happened if you had actually stabbed her? Do you want to see?"

The portal she had seen so many times appeared again. But this time it didn't show a scene from the past but something else.

_xxx_

_Xena saw herself, trying to keep balance as she came with every step closer to her opponent. Hope´s telekinetic powers were keeping her away though . Nevertheless, _

_she seemed weaker than before. Maybe because she was pregnant with the Destroyer or maybe it was a side-effect of the hind's blood who knows… _

_What was important was that with every step she came closer to her enemy. She was well aware that she was about to die along with her – as a result of some sort of bargain Ares had made with the Fates, but it didn't matter. As long as she had the chance to avenge Solan and protect the rest of the world, she was willing to accept it._

_Ares was watching what was happening. Xena, an enemy who meant more to him than it should and Hope, an ally he could live without if he had to. They were both about to die. _

_He himself was lying helpless on the ground of his own temple, trying to recover from Callisto's energetic attack.. All he could do was watch._

_If she won, it was a sure thing that he was about to face all Olympus as a result of his treason and if Hope did he was bound to remain under Dahak´s thumb. Could he really trust the Dark God to stay true to their agreement, who knew?_

_Truth being told, he hated the thought that Xena would be killed, regardless the circumstances. But it looked as if that was unavoidable anyway. Back then, as he made that offer to the Fates however it had seemed like the best course of action. He should have known that things would fall apart eventually._

_For him `it was win-win´, he had confidently told Xena before. The truth was that it was more like a loose-loose situation._

_"Xena was now standing straight in front of her opponent. She raised her weapon and prepared herself for the strike. _

_"Xena," Gabrielle shouted from the other end of the room, desperately running her way._

_From opposite angles, Callisto and Ares were watching what was happening- one was cheerful, the other one was desperate._

_As if in slow motion, Xena finally made use of that blade. She had expected some resistance, but Hope´s power was already fading._

_The Warrior Princess looked into her enemy's eyes- Gabrielle´s eyes- as the dagger buried itself into her chest and saw that Hope was smiling._

_Dahak´s daughter sank to the ground, followed split seconds later by Xena herself as the Fates stepped in._

_"No," Gabrielle screamed from the top of her lungs, seeing her fall. Both Xena and Hope- her daughter- were dead._

_"Xena!" Ares murmured in shock as he fully realized what had happened._

_xxx_

"Do you really think I didn't know about the agreement Ares made with the Fates?" Dahak said, reconnecting the Warrior Princess with the present events. "…or about your plan to use the Hind's Blood Dagger against Hope? Or about Callisto changing sides in order to help you? "

He was laughing.

"What's so funny?" Xena asked him maddened with rage.

"Hope is different from other immortals," he explained to her. "While she can be physically killed, the other side of her nature will always return her to life. You have seen it before. The hind's blood Xena, had absolutely no effect on her. It is toxic to Olympians and most other inferior Gods, but Hope's origins are primordial…That kind of poison does not have the ability to actually harm her. …

"I couldn´t have known that," Xena replied.

"No, but you were a fool to simply **hope** it **would** work," he told her. "Technically however you killed her, so the deal Ares made with the Fates was fulfilled..."

"Why?" she asked him.

"Do you really believe that my plan was all about letting a couple of crazy cultists randomly sacrifice a few people? What I truly need was for someone to open a door for me so that I can enter the physical plain- and that door is the heart and the soul of a warrior. It was never said that it had to be a particularly smart warrior."

He grinned mockingly at her.

Xena starred at him in shock. Understanding began to wash over her like a tidal wave.

_xxx_

_Gabrielle and Joxer were both knelt next to Xena´s body. The sadness was written on both their faces. Gabrielle was also looking at Hope. She wished there had been another way._

_Someone else however was less than happy, devastated even –and for completely different reasons, too._

_"No, she said she would kill me! " Callisto called out. "She promised it. Gabrielle, you hate me, don´t you?" the insane immortal addressed Xena´s two friends while still standing right behind them. "You will do what Xena promised right? After all I think your husband would agree with me," she said._

_This struck a nerve in the already grief stricken Gabrielle. She drew the dagger out of her daughter's body, turned around and stabbed Callisto with an angry shout._

_Moments later, she was staring in awe at what she had done. She had Callisto´s blood on her hands, just like Meridian´s, she thought. But she had killed many other times since then. The terrible feeling was not longer as overwhelming as before._

_Ares, who had been only witnessing the events, with no direct implication, was aware at some level that the enraged bard might just decide that it was high time to use the dagger against him too, but somehow he couldn't get himself to leave. _

_At that very moment, they all heard a sound behind them.. As they turned around they saw the Warrior Princess, alive and breathing again, watching them attentively._

_"Xena," Gabrielle murmured, "I...I thought you were dead." _

_"I was," she replied. "but something happened. On the other side I met someone, a being, he was calling himself the God of Light. He told me that we have defeated Dahak, that we have saved the world and for that he restored me to life. Everything is good now Gabrielle."_

_"Xena, that...I can not believe it." she wrapped her arms around her friend. "You are truly back," she said._

_"Yes and that is not everything, look." Xena raised her arm and one of the swords lying close to them started to levitate into the air."_

_"Xena you..."_

_"When I returned to life, I somehow acquired some of that God's powers.. He said it was a side effect of the way I came back," she told her. "And there is more, he said he can free Hope from Dahak´s influence. You can have her back."_

_xxx_

"You know Xena," Dahak told her, in the real world, "If one thing still astonishes me that is Gabrielle´s ability to believe absolutely everything that you tell her."

_xxx_

_Gabrielle watched as the body of the demi-god before her began to move._

„_Mother," Hope said as she too opened her eyes._

„_She is not longer our enemy," Xena assured her. „Go, talk to her."_

„_Hello Ares," she addressed him while Gabrielle was occupied with her daughter._

_"Xena...you, you're alive," he whispered. Judging by his expression, he was completely bewildered. _

_"Yes, I do," she replied, „And far more. I even know how to return Solan to life. I will just extract him from Hades' crushed body."_

„_What?!" he asked in shock. _

"_Ares?" she said to him with an all knowing smile. "I didn´t know you had that kind of feelings for me. There is no need to deny it," she told him. "I can read you like an open book. You know, there will always be a place for you at my side, when this world crumbles at my feet."_

_"Xena?" he asked unsure of what he had heard. For once in a very long time, the God of War himself was completely lost for words._

_He now saw that the light azure of her eyes had been replaced by shining dark orbs. _

_"I think that now you will be far more willing to kneel before me, right?" Xena/Dahak gave him her best smile._


	5. Chapter 5: Warriors

**Chapter 5**

Before Xena's eyes, the overly dramatic events of what might have been were ceaselessly unfolding, like the lively images of a dream. A lucid dream though that was frighteningly real . She watched in horror how she herself had become Dahak´s human vessel and was now interacting with no other than the God of War himself.

"As you can see, it was not Hope who had nearly opened the window into your world for me, but yourself," he told her.

"That...That is what would have happened if..." she said horrified.

"If you had succeeded you mean?" he asked. "Yes, but this is not just a simulation of what would have happened. On the contrary, it's a real possibility. In another world, another plane of reality, this truly happened, to another version of you, of course. I have just allowed you to look into her world."

"So what we 've just seen… **was** real?" Xena asked him.

"Yes, at least in another universe it was," Dahak replied. "You and Ares have much in common by the way," he told her, his eyes lingering on the scene before them.

"Is there really a need to become **that** insulting?" Xena retorted.

"You both are warriors," he said to her. "You both believe that warriors like yourself are the ones that shape the world. But you possess neither the understanding nor the comprehension regarding the consequences of your own actions.

You can be very smart and cunning and charming if you want to, when it comes to reaching your aims. But only in the short run…. You are both completely unable to see the bigger picture. You think that you are players in the game, but ultimately you are only pawns. And you both think you are far smarter than you truly are."

Xena arched en eyebrow. Deep down, she had to admit that his description was all too fitting.

"Do you know what 's really ironic?" he asked her. "After I had incarnated myself into Iolaus, I did nearly everything to get Hercules kill me. If that had happened I would have taken Iolaus' soul with me. That would have really unsettled the already damaged balance between light and darkness and I would have reigned freely over your world. Unfortunately, Hercules figured this out very quickly. As a result, he bent over backwards to perform a very complex and dangerous ritual to separate me from his friend.

Of course, Ares couldn't help it! He simply had to burst in during the most critical moment, trying to kill me and Iolaus, just like you did."

_xxx_

_The portal now showed the picture of Iolaus, whose eyes were glowing in a __diabolic __bright red __light. He __was shackled with __unbreakable__ chains on __an__ altar, inside some temple._

_Hercules was standing __right __beside him and was in __over his head__ in a battle of wills with his possessed friend __when right out of nowhere,__ the door was slammed open._

_Implacable determination written all over his face,__ Ares came walking in, claiming to __want to finish the job that Hercules didn't have the guts to do._

_Xena __watched with great interest__ how a fight broke out between the two brothers and how Ares was __shamefully defeated__ by the half-god._

_xxx_

Dahak was laughing.

"Yes Xena, isn´t it amazing how you two always seem to make the same mistakes?" he asked her. "He had tried to kill me just as you tried to kill Hope. To top it all, you were both foolish enough to claim it was for the best of the world! Not to mention that in the end, the result was the same though: devastating….for you. But wait….there's more!...There are many other possible realities, all of them leading to the same conclusion: I am the victor.

Have you ever wondered what would have happened if you had killed Hope ten months earlier, while she was still a Baby- before she had pledged herself to me? You know, just like you had originally planned it….. Do you think that would have made a difference?

Well…let me shed some light upon that matter too…. I didn't actually need her, you see. Yes, she was useful and yes, she had great potential, just like Gabrielle in a way. But ultimately, she did nothing that I couldn´t have achieved myself, in her absence. Would you care to take a look?"

"No, but I assume you won't give me a choice! " she bit back, still visibly affected by what she had just witnessed. .

"Good answer," he replied with a grin. "In everything else I will," he said, "but not here."

A scene showing Gabrielle appeared now before her.

_xxx_

_The Bard was screaming in a way that Xena had never heard her scream before. _

_"Get away from me! I never want to see you again! Get away," she shouted, tears __streaking her__ eyes._

_xxx_

"That must have come as a shock given the fact that Gabrielle's patience with you seemed like a bottomless ocean at times…. I guess that everything has a bottom though…" Dahak made sure to add. "She sure reached that bottom the minute you murdered her daughter. And so, your other self lost Gabrielle."

Both Dahak´s words and the one of the alternate Gabrielle stabbed Xena straight into the heart.

"As for the rest…." he continued.

The scene before them changed once again.

_xxx_

_It __now __showed a group of exotic looking men who were standing before a small canyon. Xena __could have recognized __the landscape __at any time__. It was the frozen river of lava where she had __successfully __trapped Callisto after she had become a goddess all those years __back, way before__ Hope had released her._

_She watched how a large pillar of fire appeared in the air and broke open the rock. A few moments later, Callisto __herself __materialized in front of the strangers._

_Xena__ instantly__ recognized the leader of the group as __being the__ same man who had thrown__ the dagger that had killed Iolaus in one of the earlier depictions._

_"Well well, who do we have here?" Callisto asked as she saw the men._

_"My name is Gilgamesh," the leader replied, "the king of Sumeria, besides other things," he stated__._

_"So…. tell me Gilgamesh, __**king of Sumeria**__, why __exactly __should prevent me from killing both you and your entourage? After being out for so long I am __yearn for a bit of quality__ entertainment."_

_"You wouldn´t be able to," he simply responded, no __trace of fear in his eyes__. "I have a powerful ally. And by the way, you __wouldn't __want to do that __once you've heard__ our offer." _

_Callisto __burst into an __incontrollable fit of laughter._

_"What would __**you**__ have to offer __**me**__?" she asked him, a mixture of curiosity and contempt __reverberating from her voice._

_"Did you know that Xena has a son?" he replied._

_xxxxxxx_

_15 months__ since her last visit, Xena was once again returning to the centaur village where she had __willingly left__ her son Solan after his birth._

_From the first moment she came in range of the settlement, she could tell that something was wrong, very very wrong. She had seen the smoke of the fires from__ afar, __and the closer she came, the more __her hope sank._

_As she __reached __the entrance of the village, she could finally make out the whole level of the destruction. Every single building had been burnt down, charred or maimed corpses were lying between the remains._

_More bodies, __apparently everyone__ who was not initially killed by the assault or the fire, were hanging from crosses and stakes. All of them were burnt to the point where they were nearly unrecognizable._

_Finally, she found what she was looking for. A young boy was hanging on one of the crosses. He had long hair and she could recognize parts of his clothes. His face was badly burned, but she had no doubt who it was._

_"Solan," she said quietly, __unable to__ break out in tears._

_After a few more minutes she realized that she wasn´t the only living person in the village after all._

_"Xena," someone was calling out her name._

_As she looked around, she saw the bloody and __violently __beaten form of a woman. Still she recognized her friend the Amazon._

_"Ephiny," Xena said, running to her._

_The Amazon warrior had a broken leg and __many bleeding__ wounds, but she was alive. __The Warrior Princess__ did her best to help her before she began to question her. _

_"Ephiny, what happened here? Who did this?"_

_"You" the Amazon yelled angrily at her. "They came because of you. They said that you murdered their __master's daughter__. They said that Solan was your son and that you __hid__ him in the village. They came for revenge!"_

_"Who?" Xena asked, completely horrified __of what she had just heard._

_"Callisto! She was leading a band of warriors, dark skinned men from another country. They killed everyone, even the children. They killed Xenon. My son is dead because __**he **__was here!" __she spat in rage, looking towards Solan's dead body.__ "They said they only left me alive so that I could give you the message," _

_"What message?" Xena __demanded __to know._

_"__**Remember Britannia,**__ that is what they told me `__**remember Britannia´."**_

_The shock ripped through Xena __as the meaning of those words sank in__._

"_No, oh no," she cried out and broke down._

_"Is it true? What they said about you, is it true Xena?__ Did you murder that child?"_

_For a second she didn´t know what to answer._

_"It...It wasn´t a child. It was the vessel for an evil god. It was evil."_

_"What are you saying?" Ephiny asked her __in shock._

_"It looked__ like a baby, but it wasn´t a __normal child.__ It was the spawn of a god named Dahak. It was too dangerous. I had __to kill it__..."_

_"I...I__ can't__ believe this," the Amazon replied. "What __did Gabrielle say __to this? Where is she anyway?"_

_"She...she left me. The child, it...it was hers." Xena barely realized it as Ephiny slapped her._

_"Never, never come close to me again," she hissed. "My son is dead only because you..." She paused, unable to end this sentence. "Did you ever__ think__ about that? __Did it ever occur to you that__ this Dahak might seek revenge? __It's because__ of your arrogance__ that__ Xenon is dead, and countless others too. __Their blood is on your hands, Xena__!"_

_"Ephiny," Xena __murmured.._

_"I said stay away from me! " she repeated._

_"You need help."_

_"Not from you! __I'd rather die! "_

_xxx_

_A few hours later, __a torn apart__ Xena __had managed to take__ Solan´s body from the cross and __bury__ him close by. __She was all alone, praying beside his grave when realization washed over her like a cold autumn rain.__ First __she had lost__ Gabrielle, now her __son and along with him__ Ephiny – another __dear __friend._

_What was left for her?_

_"Well, I can not say that __I find this surprising__" she heard a voice behind her. _

_"What do you want Ares?" she growled at the God of War who had just appeared next to her._

_"I wish I could have spared you this,__ trust__ me Xena."_

_"__Yeah, well__ tell that to someone who __actually__ believes it. If you did, you could have done something __about it.__ You could have stopped them," she accused him._

_"Callisto and Dahak at the same time?" he asked "__and let's not forget about their skilled, elite warriors__! __I'm afraid I would have __been__ hopelessly outmatched."_

_"If you say so," Xena responded __coldly._

_"I've warned you about all this," Ares reminded her. "You can not say I didn´t."_

_"Yes you did," she admitted stoically. "I ask again, what do you want?"_

_"To be honest Xena, the same as I have always offered you," he said. "You and me, together, leading our armies, bringing down the world."_

_"You've chosen a very bad time Ares. My son has just been murdered. I have no patience for your games."_

_"Oh no, __the timing__ is actually perfect you see, up to now, __what we really lacked__ was a common cause. __But it sure looks like__ we finally have one! "_

_"What are you saying?" __she hissed__._

_"That we move together against Dahak," Ares told her. "Look, I know I should have been more honest with you about this threat earlier," he said, "But you __gotta admit it, it__ was foolish __of __you to think that __simply __killing Dahak´s half mortal offspring would stop him. His cult has to be completely eradicated. Gabrielle doesn´t understand this and neither does Ephiny._

_But we, you and me, we do. We both have the strength to do what is necessary. You have already__ prooved__ this __so many times that I've lost count.__ Together we can defeat Dahak. Come with me," he said and offered her his hand. "We will start a war and bring it to him."  
_

_"Ares."_

_"I know __how badly__ it hurts Xena. __I know__….. __but I can give you something else in return, something you desperately need right now: revenge."_

_And__ thus__, she took his hand._

_xxx_

"Fascinating isn´t it?" Dahak asked in the present time.

They both watched as Xena´s other self joined Ares.

"Not to mention how this story ended," he said. "Despite your soul lifting words, neither you nor Ares bothered to warn Hercules and Iolaus about the magnitude of that threat and so the two walked into my trap, a scene strikingly similar to the one in our world."

_xxx_

_They were now __looking at__ another scene ,__ depicting__ Xena, followed by a large group of warriors. Around them, __there were__ the dead bodies of dozens of men and women, followers of Dahak._

_A bit further away,__ Ares and Hercules were involved __into __a fight. And before Xena__ there __was__ Iolaus, wearing a dark colored robe, his eyes glowing red._

_"Don´t do it Xena," the half-god called out. "Don´t you understand? This is what he wanted all along."_

_"Don´t listen to him Xena," Ares shouted. "He is just weak. He knows __what has to be done __ but __he's __a coward. He can't kill his friend, but you can! __Think of Solan!"_

_With an angry shout, Xena drove her sword through Iolaus/Dahak´s body. Hercules watched in horror as his best friend and worst enemy sank dieing to the ground. He knew what was now bound to happen._

_"What have you done?" Hercules __barely whispered__, __too pained to scream at her._

_Xena's triumph lasted but a moment__ before she realized something was wrong._

_"What's happening here?" Ares __suddenly cried, noticing that they __were surrounded by a circle of fire. The flames started to leash out on them. __Seconds later, a white lightning__ came down from the sky, hitting the war-god. Both Xena and Hercules were watching in horror as Ares __faded away__ with a terrible scream. Before their very eyes, the God of War was turned to ashes._

_"You fools!" __the echo of a distant voice could be heard from everywhere around them._

_xxx_

"You and Ares are truly one of a kind," Dahak said. "Both of you kept making the same mistake in so many worlds, over and over again.

"Why are you showing me this?" she asked. "Haven´t you tortured me enough?" Just like her other self, she had tears in her eyes.

"This is not about torture, it is about enlightenment. Of course it can often bring great suffering to someone who finally realizes how things truly are," he explained to her.

"As you should realize now, nothing that you did, had done or could have done had made a difference. You had lost in the moment you had raised your sword in Britannia. All you managed since then is digging yourself into a deeper grave."

"Do you know how often I had asked myself if I could have done anything different in the centaur village? If I could have prevented Solan´s death?" she responded. "The mere thought that I couldn´t have changed anything is actually a consolation in itself."

"A chance is always there," he told her, "no matter how small. But you are right. Aside from not attacking Hope in the first place, there was nothing with a chance of success for you.

This `parallel worlds´ phenomenon is really interesting, you have to admit it" he said. "Did you know that a long time ago I actually created such a world? Me and Hope, we sent Callisto back into the past to annihilate Hercules before he was even born. This led to the formation of a reality where your `greatest hero´never existed. Iolaus however followed Callisto and stopped her.

His interference led to another interesting side effect though. During his journey, he came across your past self and he made the same mistake so many else did. He made the mistake to trust you. He warned you about Darfus organizing a rebellion against you and so it came that your other self never lost her command.

Without Hercules or Darfus there to stop her, all of Greece and the neighboring countries fell under the rule of a vicious tyrant: Xena the Conqueror. I guess your precious friends forgot to share that story with you. I wonder why?" he asked her mockingly. "By the way, there is an incident from this world that you should see."

_xxx_

_Before them appeared a scene of a large crowd __bustling into __the narrow streets of__ a market place. In front of the people stood a cross, __waiting for some poor victim to be nailed on it. __It was an execution._

_Inside a imposing looking tent, Xena could see her own other self, who was waiting for the event to begin. As the prisoner was led outside she saw to her terror that is was Gabrielle __who was about to be put to death._

_How could she do that? Xena asked herself. There was a good chance that this version of her had gone through the same torture years ago, like herself. Even if she had never met Gabrielle before, how could she do __**this**__ to someone else?_

_After Gabrielle´s legs __were broken__ at the order of the Conqueror, something surprising happened. A __singular __man stepped outside the crowd._

_He was wearing a long black cloak and had a hood over his face. Without a single word he draw his sword and charged at the guards._

_He was far outnumbered, but somehow he was able to move with a speed that for a human being should not even have been possible. His movements looked like a blur as he killed the first two soldiers. Despite that she could not even see everything, Xena realized that his abilities with a sword were nearly unmatched, even by her standards._

_She watched as the men jumped over a distance of at least eight meters and cut off the head of another opponent. And then she saw how, with a movement of his hand he caused the scattered weapons to levitate and threw them at the remaining soldiers. _

_xxx_

It couldn´t be, Xena thought in the present, Dahak. It reminded her all too much of him.

"He is one of my best warriors," he told her, gesturing to the scene they were watching.

_xxx_

_Finally she watched as he removed the nails from Gabrielle´s hands and took her off the cross. The bodies of over a dozen men were now lying around them._

_"Who...who are you?" the alternate Gabrielle asked weakly._

_"I am here to save you," the dark cloaked man said, "at the behalf of my master, the god Ahriman. You can call me Caine."_

_xxx_

"Ahriman, another one of my many names," Dahak said. "Once again a version of you had delivered her right into my hands."

"Why are you showing me all this? What do you want from me?" Xena asked.

"You know I could bring you back to life," he responded. "You wouldn´t even have to worry about this 40.000 souls. They would stay where they are now. You only had admit the truth, that you belong to me."


	6. Chapter 6: Choices I

**Chapter 6**

"There is something you should know. This entire world you are seeing right now," Dahak told her, gesturing to the portal that was still showing them scenes from the world of `Xena the Conqueror´. "It was only created for a single purpose: to **die**."

_xxx_

_The portal now __focused on__ an exchange between the alternate Gabrielle and the man calling himself Caine._

_"We are able to heal you," he said to her. "You will be able to walk again__" he told Gabrielle who __was __lying before him with shattered legs, "and if you pledge yourself to us, we __will make sure that you will be also capable to fight. __Our intention is to start a__ war __with __the Conqueror, we will destroy her and end her rule forever. What do you say? he asked._

_"Yes," the other Bard answered, __without the slightest hesitation in her voice.  
_

_xxx_

_The scene changed __soon after. __ Groups of soldiers that were killing each other, burning towns and villages,__ crucifying__ men and women and finally, an __impressive__ battle that was __bound to decimate what was left of the opponents__. The Conqueror, Xena, was fighting __alongside __her troops. But her enemy this time was something the __likes of which even__ she had never seen before._

_It was not just an army of regular soldiers that they were facing. Dahak´s herald Caine and a group of his warriors were tearing through the lines of her troops with powers that could __only__ be compared with the gods themselves. They were conjuring fire at their opponents, telekinetically snapping the necks of soldiers or mentally throwing weapons at them and moving with speeds that their enemies could not follow, cutting down hundreds of men._

_Somewhere on the battlefield, __the Conqueror spotted__ Gabrielle, fighting __the enemy__ troops. __That incredibly lethal army__ consisted __in an equal proportion out of__ Dahok's worshipers, and people who were desperate to escape from under Xena´s tyranny and willing to follow __right about anyone__ who showed __even the slightest__ chance at success, no matter how ruthless._

_xxx_

The real Xena flinched….that was exactly the type of person she had become. Her eyes widened as she took a closer look at her alternate friend: she was fighting with two swords, a very twisted image of the Gabrielle she knew…but an amazingly good warrior nonetheless.

_xxx_

_Suddenly __**this**__ Gabrielle __found herself__ standing in front of her enemy. The Conqueror was wounded. She had __already __been fighting __countless __opponents. __Weakened like that,__ Gabrielle was sure that she could take her._

_"Xena," she shouted._

_"You,!" the Conqueror__ exclaimed__ as she recognized her. _

_Pretty soon, the two were engaging __into a life and death confrontation._

_But even a wounded Xena was still an extremely __dangerous warrior to challenge__. _

_xxx_

In the meantime, all the real Xena could do was watch as the Conqueror and Gabrielle were causing each other lethal wounds.

_xxx_

_At one point, Gabrielle was able to find __an __opening and thrust one of her swords through the Conquerors chest. But at the same time she was stricken down by Xena's sharp weapon. _

_xxx_

The regular Xena watched them both dying.

"Iolaus had succeeded to stop our efforts to replace your reality with this one," Dahak told her. "But all this still took place in an alternate reality. It was clear however that this world had no future. So my followers brought chaos, violence and destruction to it´s peak. My agents set the inhabitants against each other, sparked the fire of war wherever they could, spread hate into the hearts of every living being. And then, as it all had reached its climax, we destroyed it all, so that the dark energy released along with the fall of that world could fuel my powers.

_xxx_

_They were __now looking__ at Caine, sitting cross-legged in __an__ open field, dead bodies of hundreds of men __lying all around him. _

_He was being surrounded by a circle of flames._

_"Ahriman, my master," he declared."____Hear my prayer. _Lord of Darkness. God of eternal destruction. Your eyes are upon me. Your voice speaks through me. Your spirit lives **inside** me. With this I sacrifice to you this world."

_The sky itself behind him started to burn. Lightning was coming down from __the heavens,_

_scorching the Earth. In the distance, towns and villages were consumed by fire. The ground was shaking and breaking apart, swallowing entire areas._

_It looked like the end of the world and apparently that __was precisely what it was._

_xxx_

"And **you** say you want to bring me back to the living?" Xena said in horror, but with visible sarcasm. "To take yourself along with me, like you did it with Iolaus, right? You can forget that. I would never allow my own world meet the same fate as this one."

"Have you not listened to me earlier? I said I have no intention to destroy your world right now," he reminded her.

"I have understood perfectly, every word. I just don´t believe anything you say," she replied.

"No, I don´t plan to use you to incarnate myself in the physical world. There is just no need for me to do this. At least not in you. All the goals I wanted to reach for the time being have been already fulfilled. "

"By **my** hand, as you have kept telling me," Xena commented with yet another dose of stingy irony.

"Much of it, yes. Most of the things that were still left unsolved after I was separated from Iolaus, were ultimately achieved through your own little crusades. For the moment at least, I am completely satisfied with the balance of your world as it is. Of course though, in the coming centuries that might change, I won't deny that. "

"If **you** say so," she coldly replied.

"I will tell you the truth. **His** presence and mine are in everything that exists. There is light in everything that lives and breaths. Tell me, can you see it right now? Can you see it in yourself? Did you ever? Or have you always relied on the darkness to set things right? You have…then you must surely know that you belong to me."

"Let **me** tell you something," Xena said to him. "Twenty eight years ago, as I decided to end my life as a warlord, I felt lost. I was ready to end it all there and then….I had already buried my weapons and armor and was only waiting for the end to come. I had no more expectations from life as I knew it….And then something happened: Gabrielle."

"Gabrielle," Dahak repeated.

"I saved her from a group of marauders and in time it was her turn to save me, which she did, by helping me find a new way. She gave me back my will to life. Things changed gradually though…..everything became way too complicated and often twisted. And

when the end finally came, I was finally able to accept it full heartedly.

"That is **one** way to put it," he commented.

"Do you think I am blind? " she inquired . . "All the things you have showed me. Do you think that I haven't realized that I was the one causing them? All the things I've done to Gabrielle….I mean I've tried to kill her at least…four times….No…it's time for her to go her own way now….She's better of without me. "

"Do you really mean it or is it just bad consciousness talking? Or has my influence on you maybe worked **too** well?" he asked.

"If my death saves others, I gladly embraced it," she claimed.

"Really? Do you actually believe that fairytale story according to which your heroic death will actually save 40.000 souls? Don't make me laugh! When you killed Hades, you made sure that millions of souls would remain trapped into the afterlife for the rest of eternity, throwing everything off balance! How do you think someone like Ceasar was able to escape the underworld in the first place? You saved 40.000, yes, but on the other hand you condemned countless millions to a similar fate, one of them your own son."

Xena´s expression became even more pained then before.

"What can I do to help him?" she asked.

**"Him?"** Dahak asked her in mock appall. "Oh Xena, you are doing it again. I have just told you that millions were in this state, nearly all souls born from the Olympian´s realm for hundreds of generations and all you care about is your **own** offspring."

Xena herself recapitulated her words in her mind.

"Look," she said, "maybe you're right about me. Maybe I really am a selfish, evil bitch. But please just answer me."

"What you can do? In your current state, nothing. But if I restore you to life, with my help, I'm sure we could figure something out."

_"It wouldn't change anythin_g," Xena said to herself._ "We've already restored Ares and Aphrodite to godhood. Sooner or later they will take care of those poor souls. _

_And then there's also the God of Light who might interfere."_

"Oh yes, Ares and Aphrodite," Dahak stated, "but it will probably take them decades to repair your mistakes…Plus they do have other duties too, you know….Remember, they still have to reorganize the entire realm given that you've slaughtered their siblings, And none of them is an underworld deity, so it will take even longer to find a solution. Thus, the fate of the poor Solan and all the others will remain uncertain for a **very** long time.

Whereas, with me by your side you could get a result much quicker. You are right however, sooner or later both Tartarus and the Elysian Fields will break apart and the souls will be send to either Heaven or Hell. Another victory for me. But that could still take decades as things are. Still, I do have the necessary patience to wait for that event. How about you?"

"I..." Xena hesitated, visibly in distress. "No," she finally concluded. "They will solve this, sooner or later. You said it yourself. I have caused enough damage. If I accept to return, I would probably end up messing everything even more. Things are just right the way they are now."

"In other words, you're giving up again," he pointed out.

"You can think whatever you want. The point is that I don´t want anything from you. I refuse your offer," Xena told him.

"Oh really? You truly think so? We will see. Maybe you just need some... time to think about it. I will give it to you. We will see if you are not inclined to reconsider after you've gotten a small taste of how being completely alone and unable to change your situation feels like."

This being said, Dahak´s physical form dissolved.

Xena was alone. The portal was still there, but it now showed pictures of a sleeping Gabrielle. She still seemed to be on board of the ship that was taking her back to Greece. That meant not much time had passed since she was here.

"Dahak?" she asked. No answer.

She was alone, still standing in this endless desert of rock. All what she could do was watch her sleeping friend. Somehow, it appeared just like the situation before she was brought here.

She spent some time like that until she heard another voice. Xena recognized it instantly. It was Gabrielle´s…..or something very similar.

"Hello Xena," it said.

Before her, stood a young woman who looked like a nearly perfect mirror image of her friend. The only difference was in the longer hair and in the outfit that the Bard herself had lost a few years back.

"Gab...Hope," Xena corrected herself.

"Yes Xena, it is me. I am neither an illusion nor my Father in another form. It **is truly **me. Of course I'm lacking a body right now, but it so seems to me that you are in the same situation."

"What do you want?" she asked angrily.

"I just wanted to greet you. After all since, you've decided to stay in this realm, it looks like our time as enemies will soon be over," Hope told her.

"So you've been eavesdropping on my conversation with Daddy…" Xena concluded.

"Of course. It concerns me too if you live or die. We have gone through so much together as a result of your decision to make us enemies. I wanted to tell you that I will return to the physical world very soon. I wanted to ask if you want me to give me a message for somebody….maybe to mother…or your daughter, Eve?"

"You won´t do anything to her," Xena burst out. "I swear if you harm her I will..."

"You will do what?" Hope asked her. She didn´t get an answer.

"As I thought," she said. "You can calm down by the way. I could never kill Eve. What do you think of me? I would never harm the living embodiment of your hypocrisy," she stated."Look at her," Hope raised her arms as if talking to an invisible audience. "This is Xena, the woman who could slaughter the daughter of her best friend over the unfortunate death of one man, but let her own get away with murdering thousands of people and destroying entire villages in front of her eyes."

At that point, the pain was written all over Xena's face.

"Is this another part of Dahak´s tactic to crush my spirit by showing me everything I have done wrong?" she asked Hope defiantly.

"Of course," she replied. "Does it work?" she asked smiling with false friendliness.

"No."

"Oh Xena, it is working perfectly. We both know you are practically chronically unable to tell the truth when you are in the defensive."

"Maybe it does," Xena admitted. "But I still won´t agree to Dahak´s offer."

"You know, Father had promised me that he would completely crush your soul," she said in delight. "But I would have never thought he would do it by using your own actions."

She smiled.

"Do you know that a few years back mother and I had a conversation shortly before **you** stabbed my son in the back? " Hope questioned.

Her face showed an expression of pure anger now. "You remember that one right? Do you know what she had the nerve to tell me?

`I always loved you, but I had to stop you." Hope laughed. "And then the very next thing I saw was you, single handedly wiping out entire armies, bringing up a child that was destined to destroy the Greek Gods, getting hundreds killed with your inept attempts to `**defend´** her and then to personally kill the Olympians. The question is why did you even bother to try and stop me? As it looks we should have **teamed up** from the beginning. Don´t you think that is funny?"

"No," Xena replied.

"You are right," Hope said bitterly. "It is not funny, not in the slightest. That you killed my son. That you tried to kill me. All in the name of your treacherous `greater good´, while doing exactly the things that I was meant to do in the first place. You killed my son….you also tried to kill me….You did do one good thing though…Thanks to you, I won´t even have to destroy anything anymore when I return to the world this time….All what is left for me to do is to hold inspiring speeches before Father's followers and looking appealing."

There was a brief moment of silence before she started talking again.

"You even did things I would have never even considered. For example that insane plan to kidnap Celesta, to fake your own death. And in everything mother followed you like some mentally limited drone. Without asking any questions….

Well, we'll just have to wait and see what she will say now…"

"Hope," Xena said, "I know you hate me. But Gabrielle, there is no reason to tell her about what Dahak said to me. There is no need to put her through **this** too."

"You still don't get it, do you?" Has Father failed to tell you? "

"Tell me what?" she wanted to know.

"That he had arranged for her to see everything that was happening here. She had heard every single word, from the very beginning…."

Xena was starring at her in shock. She thought about everything that had been brought up, everything that had been said. Gabrielle would hate her. Hope stood just there, enjoying her pain.

"No, that can not be," Xena whispered. **Dahak**," she hissed the name.

"Isn´t that right, mother?" Hope asked. She raised her hand and a second figure appeared, looking nearly exactly like herself.

The Bard looked around herself in confusion for a few moments.

"Xena?" she asked.

The Warrior Princess saw that her eyes were full of tears.

"Hope, is this really you?" Gabrielle said.

"Yes mother it is," she replied.

The Bard now turned her gaze towards Xena. What could she read in Gabrielle´s eyes? Anger, disappointment, disillionisement, loss, friendship, love? Yes, of all of that was there.

"Xena," she said, "it...it is okay."

"Go now mother," Hope told her. "Return. We will meet again soon."

With this Gabrielle vanished. Xena was still standing there, looking nearly devastated, but with some new resolve at Gabrielle´s words.

"Will she continue to listen?" she asked.

"No, the rest is only between you and Father," Hope answered.

"I understand," Xena said grim.

"You know you should agree to his offer," Hope told her. "He can restore you to life. But your choices afterwards will still be your own. You can agree to everything you want and take it all back later."

The Warrior Princes began to laugh.

"You know perfectly well that I would never trust one single word coming from your mouth." she replied.

"Of course," Hope smiled at her, "as father does. He actually told me to tell you this, knowing that you wouldn't trust me"

"Hope," Xena said, "I want to tell you something…..I am sorry…Not for my attempts to stop you later, but for that first attack…I was wrong"

For a moment Dahak´s daughter looked at her in genuine surprise. Shortly after, her expression changed though.

"Really Xena, do you honestly think that would change something? How many times have you said the same thing to how many people? And here you are now, apologizing to me, in a moment when you can not longer pretend that you were `right´. Have you not told mother the same all those times you tried to kill her? How many other people have constantly given you second chances, only for you to turn on them. Take Lao Ma for instance. She saved your life, healed your legs, just to have you ruin her negotiations with Ming, trying to murder her son right in front of her. …So much with that principle of **sparring** women and children, right? Seriously Xena, what is with you, always trying to kill the children of women you claim to care about? Do you actually do it on purpose? Is it some sort of a sick hobby you have?" she asked sadistically. "I knew that some people get their kicks in strange ways, but that..." she laughed.

"You know Xena, your entire `redemption´ is only a shining, glittering thing hanging above your head. You want it because it looks alluring. But you can never truly have it, and it gets people killed whenever you reach for it. Believe me," she said to her confidently with a smirk, "I know what I am talking about."

A silvery trinket appeared in Hope´s hand. She realized that it was a replica of the chain that Goewen had been strangled with. Then Hope threw the object at her and Xena saw how it slipped through her fingers. Then Hope vanished.

She was alone once again.

Hours passed without anything else happening. Dahak didn´t return. After some time Xena nearly wished either he or his daughter **would** return.

Then, finally someone did come. But it was not who she had been expecting.

It was a Angel, an Archangel in fact, who appeared before her.

"Xena," he said, "don´t be afraid. I am here to help you."

For a moment she was completely surprised. Needless to say she was skeptic regarding any possible outside help.

"So the other side actually sent someone to help me," she stated unsure.

"Yes," the Angel replied. "My name is Azasiel."


	7. Chapter 7: Choices II

**Chapter 7**

Xena had been alone for hours. She now had the needed time to think about everything that had happened.

All the doubts Dahak had planted inside her heart throughout the day, all the insecurities, mistakes and sins.

Just a few hours before she had actually apologized to Hope. It was another thing that she would have never seen herself doing. But her gesture did have more than one meaning.

Was Hope really as evil as she had always thought her to be? Was she evil at all? Or had she simply been in a situation where she had no other choice than to turn to Dahak? If Xena was honest with herself, she couldn't tell what the truth was anymore. In fact she wasn´t sure about anything at all any longer.

Only a few hours in Dahak´s presence would have been enough for right about anyone to hardly even know about themselves. That was exactly her situation. He had made her doubt everything she had ever thought to believe in.

Ultimately, it didn´t even really mattered.

During the last days she had also learned a few things about him. He was an opponent one could not hope to defeat with the sword, with violence or anger. In fact all these things had always seemed to actually work in his favor. She had been a fool for trying it for so long, it was crystal clear now.

Every little bit of doubt she had successfully managed to seed into Hope´s mind on the other hand, represented a small victory for her.

Would the Child of Darkness ever be able to be turned away from her father? Xena had serious doubts about it.

But was that because of her evil nature or because Xena herself had just caused too much damage in the past?

How did Dahak put it? Hercules had needed everything, his strength, his faith, his conviction, his love all together to obtain but a small victory.

By trying to get to her, Dahak had been forced to also reveal a few potential weaknesses of himself. But she wasn´t foolish enough to think that he hadn't realized that he was revealing too much. At least she wasn´t anymore, not after everything he had shown her.

He had effectively demonstrated her how she had failed, again and again, in this world and others, how most of her actions had actually made the situation worse.

Anger, hatred, physical or mental violence, all that didn't even seem to stand the slightest chance to harm him. It was however the exact opposite of all this he seemed to be slightly worried about.

Not one single technique she had tried in the past with various enemies could have an effect on him.

For nearly her entire life, Xena had trained to find every possible weakness in an opponent, pushing herself beyond limits to analyse and outthink them- to ultimately beat him. What scared her however was that Dahak was far far better at this than herself. Was he only baiting her, once again?

For the last hours she had been alone. He was obviously generously offering her the chance to over think everything.

Normally she would play to win, to prove herself better than her foe. Still, deep inside, she was aware that the chances for that to happen were more than hopeless. If she acted like she usually did, she would be lost. Her main aim couldn´t be to beat Dahak, but to find a way out of here and mainly, to keep others from harm.

She had still been deep in thought when an Angel had appeared before her.

He said that he wanted to help her. But, despite her best efforts, she couldn't stop the feeling that something was wrong.

If the Angel was truly there for her sake, why had Dahak not interfered? Xena had no doubts that he was still watching her.

She may have been a bit naive when it came to the extent of his power in the past, but from that to making the same mistake again was a long shot.

So, if he wasn´t even trying to stop this Angel from contacting her, what was his game now?

To that, an even stranger feeling added up, about this newcomer. One glance was all it took for her to realize that he wasn´t any different from any other servant of the God of Light she had met. He was wearing the typical armor and had the black wings of the Archangels. He had light brown hair that fell over his shoulders and ressembled more a human man in his late thirties than a timeless immortal. Nothing too unusual.

"Xena," the Angel named Azasiel said to her, "it is extremely important for you not to listen to anything Dahak tells you. You have to refuse everything he offers you. Don´t accept anything he gives you. If you agree to any offer accepting his terms, you will be forever doomed," the Angel adviced her.

She couldn´t help it. There was something about him, something that was soo familiar that she could almost touch it; she just couldn't put her finger on it.

Before she could give the idea a second thought, another presence appeared again. Dahak had returned.

Xena greeted the God of Darkness.

"I see you have `changed´," she observed.

Dahak was now no longer in the guise of Iolaus and had instead taken the shape of Hercules. But she had no doubt about who he was.

"I found it fitting," he remarked, "given the different situation."

"What difference?" Xena asked him.

"I have been thinking about everything we have discussed and I came to the conclusion that there was simply not enough at stake for you. So, instead of wasting time telling you about events that happened a long time ago- or that might have been- I decided I'd rather show you something in the** here and now**," Dahak replied.

He had been thinking about it, he said? She doubted that. Xena was making any bet that he had planned out all this from the beginning. Those hours of waiting were probably only part of his tactic from the start.

She saw that the portal open once again in the air before them.

_xxx_

_It now showed a large group of armed warriors who were moving on a road at the side of a mountain. Their skin tone reminded her of the people of India, but their strange looking clothes showed her that they were from a different place. At one side of them was a huge __wall __of rock, at the other a gaining abyss._

_xxx_

"What you see here," Dahak told her, "is a country unknown to you, at the other side of the ocean. This is a troop of warriors led by the ruler of this particular kingdom.

"Thonapa the Second," he gestured to a middle aged man in elegant and expensive looking clothes who was riding at the head of the group. "The name means so much as `son of a god´. Ironic, isn´t it?" he asked her. "At the moment he is on his way to a small village at the border of one of the neighboring kingdoms, with 200 of his best warriors."

The scene changed and now showed a settlement of people, living in huts.

"He plans to raze the village to the ground, kill everyone who is able to fight and capture the women and children to enslave them or sacrifice them to their gods.

_xxx_

_Xena was now shown a ritual that took place on top of a bizarre looking Pyramid, a shackled man and a priest with a raised dagger standing above him._

_xxx_

"What you should know about Thonapa is that he came to power by murdering his brother a few years ago. Since then, he had killed an entire line of people for having dared question his right to rule, along with their families," Dahak continued.

"Now as the crops turned out badly, some claimed that it was a punishment from the gods for his crimes. So he decided to sacrifice a large number of people to appease the so called furious Gods or at least to allow his subjects believe that he had tried to.

In truth, the failed crops had more to do with the exaggerated taxes he has been pressing out of them and the labor he forced the peasants into to building monuments for himself, instead of actually working on the fields. But you know how humans are, always blaming the gods," he commented.

"So he will wipe out this village because of his own failures," Xena concluded bitterly.

"Yes he will, unless something stops him at the last minute," Dahak replied. "The mountainside," he mentioned casually, "…..it sometimes comes to rock falls. One of those could of course destroy his men, kill Thonapa and end his tyranny. Otherwise..." he pointed out.

_xxx_

_The portal showed her another picture of the village, now completely destroyed. The huts were standing in flames. Dead bodies were lying everywhere._

_xxx_

"What do you say Xena? I will leave this to you," Dahak stated.

"Xena, remember what I have told you," Azasiel said to her. "You must not accept anything he gives to you. I beg of you, turn around and let those people die, for your own sake."

She heard the words of the Angel, but decided to ignore them. Given all the sins she had committed, simply standing by while others were killed was not an option and she wasn't about to start now. She could not just turn around and **let** it happen, and if this Angel failed to understand her way of thinking, then she wasn´t sure what she should even worry about his opinion regarding her welfare.

Suddenly she realized what she had been missing before.

"What do you want from me?" she asked Dahak.

"For this decision, I give the choice to you Xena," he said.

With his words, she felt a strange power flowing into her.

"The universe is now in your hands, when it comes to this one decision," he told her. "You can let all these people be murdered or you can wipe out Thonapa and his troops. Everything that you think, will now become reality. It is your choice."

Xena was thinking, two hundred men. And she would be killing them all. How many of them were just following orders? How many just acted out of fear of the tyrant? But if she didn't, if she failed taking sides, she would let all those innocent people in the village die.

Did it really make a difference- another part of her thought sarcastically- How many armies had she already wiped out in the name of protecting others? What difference did 200 men make? But by now, Dahak of all people had opened her eyes for what she was doing.

Still, letting innocent people die by doing nothing, wouldn´t be any better. What could she do?

She had decided to accept Dahak´s challenge and now she was sinking into that mess.

"Xena, it is not to late yet," Azaziel told her. "Reject the power he gave you before it destroys your spirit. Let these people die. It's in their destiny. It was written for their lives to end today. What is one village of peasants in comparison to your very soul?"

Once again she decided not to listen to the creature.

Suddenly she realized something. Xena reached out.

"**Everything** that I think about will happen you say?" she stated.

She concentrated, ignoring the rock-formation, the mountain and even the soldiers, focusing directly at the tyrant himself.

_xxx_

_At the same time, somewhere in the place that thousands of years later would be known as Southern America, several warriors saw to their shock how their feared ruler suddenly cried out and fell from his horse._

_xxx_

Xena continued to place her will. For a few moments, she was overcome by the temptation to slow down the process, to draw out the suffering of the murderer some more. Finally though, she had found an outlet for her terrible anger. But then she realized that she was only once again following dark ways and decided to end it quickly.

With another thought, it was over. Thonapa the Second had died from a heart attack.

"Congratulations Xena," Dahak said cheerfully. He had a smile on his face. "You just did again what you do best."

"I didn´t do it for you," she responded spitefully.

"That doesn´t matter. What is important is that you **did** it."

"But it wasn´t what you wanted. I didn´t kill all of them. I looked for alternatives and took the route with the least bloodshed."

"Yes, but you still caused bloodshed. You accepted the fact that such a solution was necessary"

"What have you done?" Azasiel asked her.

"What I thought was right. The opposite of what you have told me," she replied. "Do you really think that I didn´t recognize you, Mephistopheles?"

As she said this, the skin of the Angel started to turn green, he was growing horns and claws, his hair was turning ash white. The former King of Hell was once again looking exactly like the time she had defeated him.

"I killed you," she said to him.

"True, but a soul can never truly be destroyed. I still exist as a part of Dahak," he told her. "Don´t you **want** to be a part of Dahak too?" he asked her mockingly.

"No, thanks," she responded.

"That is enough," Dahak interrupted them.

"You promised me that if I could bring Xena to reject your offers you would return **me** to life in her place," Azasiel/Mephistopheles called out.

"Yes, but it seems you have failed," he replied. "It is time to send you back."

"Xena, I swear, one day I will have my revenge on you!" Mephistopheles shouted at her angrily before he vanished in a bright light.

It was nothing new. She had heard those kind of threats countless times before.

"Ah, now back to square one…" Dahak said to her, grinning widely.

"That was a nice trick," she commented. "Sending Hope to advice me to accept your offer, knowing perfectly well that I wouldn´t trust her and then Mephistopheles to tell me to refuse it, who I would trust even less."

"I see you have figured it out. You have grown since I had first brought you here, I must admit that. You yourself have to admit it. The horrors that I showed you and the challenges I gave you had helped you to become stronger and to find a better understanding of yourself," Dahak claimed

Xena didn´t answer. She had to admit it, yes, in some sense he was right, as twisted as it was.

"You see, that is the one thing the Light is not willing to do. Tearing something down to rebuild it better. Killing… to improve the greater whole. Bringing the world forward by destroying what is holding it back. True progress and development can only be brought by destruction."

"Maybe," she admitted, "maybe you really have an important and necessary place in this world. But that doesn´t mean that I have to follow your way."

"Maybe not, but now you see the merits of the possibility," he said.

"I told you I will stay dead," she reminded him and herself. "I will wait here until the day Gabrielle dies. As you know our souls are connected. Then we will join together in the afterlife. I hope she will have forgiven me by then."

Dahak only smiled at her.

"Really…. you think you will let Gabrielle live out her life and then you will be reunited with her? You have obviously forgotten something. During your battle with the Olympians both Gabrielle and Eve had been mortally wounded. They survived only because Ares saved them, by giving them his immortality. Even if they both have only half of Ares immortal life-force, if you want for Gabrielle to join you in death you will probably have to wait a very long time," he told her.

Xena was once again in shock. How could she have overseen this?

"Even that doesn´t change anything," she replied. "I won´t return only to screw up Gabrielle´s and Eve´s lives some more. And I certainly won´t return as your servant, even if I have to stay here for the rest of eternity."

"A noble sentiment, but is that Xena the `good´ person talking, or Xena the egomaniac who just desperately needs to be always right?"

"I am not sure myself," she admitted quietly.

Where was the Light? Xena asked herself. Azasiel was a false hope, only another trap. So where was Dahak´s opponent? Didn´t he offer her any help? Had she truly fallen so deep that he wouldn´t even bother with her anymore? Where was he? Suddenly she remembered, he was everywhere, in every being.

"You have probably figured out by now that I have far more reasons for wanting to bring you back besides the one of turning you into a humble follower," Dahak pointed out.

"I assumed that much," Xena smartly retorted.

"I told you that I had great plans with your world," he reminded her. "But sadly, there are right now certain elements active that could bring upon its destruction anyway. This rogue forces might lead to the end of your world far earlier than it was initially meant to.

You see, the war between me and the Light has formed an empty space between us that left room for many other players to operate. You could call it a side effect of the freedom of choice. Neither of us can interfere directly without disrupting the balance far more than we want to.

There are certain people inhabiting your world Xena, people who threaten its very existence as a whole, far more than it could have ever fitted into my plans. People who, as you would call it, need to die. And who would be better to deal with them when you? "

"That is the reason you want to bring me back?" she asked him. "You want me as your executioner, to do your dirty work.? "

"This `dirty work´ as you put it, is also an attribute of the Light and of each and every living being on Earth if they want to survive. You saw what happened to the world of the Conqueror and told me you wouldn't let this happen to yours. It is under such frightening threat, and you can only do your part to stop it by cooperating with me. This would be the perfect moment for you to take a decision now Xena."

"Tell me about this **threat"** she required to know.

"Does this mean that you **will** agree to my terms?" he asked.

"No," she replied. "I have been thinking about everything you have told me. About Light and Darkness, about your war, about free choice and I have figured something out. You can return me to life, you can bring me back to Earth, but what I would do then is my decision. Hope had actually been telling me the truth. If I live again I will be just as free as every other living being. It will be my call alone if I follow your path or not."

"You have already been walking my path. We have been talking about this," he replied.

"Maybe, but if I continue it will be my decision. If you really think I am beyond hope, just send me to Hell or better yet, abandon me here. I could bet you won't do that though, because you actually want me back on Earth don't you? I am obviously more useful to you there. **You** want to use me against whatever this interloper is.

That is the reason you have set up all this, to make me believe I only have the choice of becoming your follower or oblivion. While in fact you are the one who is standing before the choice to either give me a second chance or to loose my help against this new threat.

Now it is your turn to choose Dahak. What will it be, let me go or not, restore me to life or not. There is nothing else."

He snarled at her angrily. Afterwards, he started to laugh.

"Oh Xena, you have truly grown from the challenges I placed upon you. A few days ago you would have never been able to figure that out. But in the end it is hopeless for you. I have been with you your entire life. Every time you felt anger or hate, even as a child- take your brother's death for instance- you always ended following your bitterness, as you declared revenge on the world, I was always there, very close to you. Even if I would restore your body, in the end you will always return to me."

"We will see about that" Xena replied. "You said it is the point of decision, now decide."

xxxxxxx

At the same time, somewhere in Greece a lonely warrior bard was thinking about everything she had seen. Gabrielle was sitting before a small fire under the night sky. Days had passed and she continued to have those strange dreams every night….Xena and Dahak, talking to each other. He was showing her various events, terrible things. All the things she and Xena had done and the horrible consequences that she until now was all too willing to oversee. And events that might have been, some more gruesome than the others.

Then, she was suddenly standing before her daughter Hope and a very distraught Xena. That's how the dream always ended before she woke up. A small part of her tried to convince herself that those were only dreams. But in her heart she knew that those things had truly happened.

She was still on her way to Egypt, Xena was dead and now, to top it all, she was forced to doubt everything that they had ever done, their entire life together.

It was okay she had told Xena during her last dream. She would never see her again anyway. So she could also remember her as a friend.

xxxxxxx

_One year later_

It was in a place at the small town of Amphipolis where suddenly, out of nowhere a fire was breaking out. The flames formed a large pillar that was burning out quickly. And as soon as it was gone the form of a single naked woman was left behind.

Xena tried to lift her head. She could feel the ground beneath her, breath the air. She was back.

xxxxxxx

Many miles away at the same time someone else was preparing to leave.

Ares, the God of War was starting a journey that he had delayed for far too long. For months now he had seen the events develop without truly getting active. It was more than about time to do something about this upcoming threats.

**_End_**


End file.
